Dark Depths of Crushing Silence
by Mistress Sorcha
Summary: Dean and Sam Winchester are working a case in the vast, frozen spaces of Michigan when a terrible turn of events plunge Sam into the the dark, crushing depths the freezing water. Dean must race against time and nature to save him from death's icy grip.


**Dean was weaving and driving like a mad man, going way to fast for the road's conditions. Sam was behind him, draped over the back seat…Dean was screaming at him to stay with him…to hold on…Dean was torn between watching the road, especially when it was so dangerously slick, and turning, scared-shitless, to look upon his little brother…Sam's normally golden, healthy skin tone was replaced with a deathly pallor, his fingertips were indigo, his lips cornflower blue…His whole body shuddered violently as his breath was came in ever more shallow, sucking gasps….**

**Dean was shaking terribly as he watched his brother slipping away into Death's grasp once again…"Sammy!!! Sammy, Dammit!!!! You stay with me!!!!!!" he screamed. Tears burned on his cheek as they froze mid-stream. His ragged breathe distilling ghostly silver-light plumes into the cab of the Impala….His own teeth chattered violently together, his muscles clenching and shuddering in the bone-deep freeze of the mountain air. He caught sight of what he desperately sought in the incoming view of the windshield. He battled the elements to turn the car off the main road onto the drive of the cabin they'd been using for the week. The powerful engine weighted the front-end dangerously. Even with the nearly one hundred pounds of ballast in the form of weapons and munitions in the trunk, the car's back end slid out with a sickening jar, almost causing it to swing into a full 360….Dean wrenched hard on the wheel, catching the momentum before it was too late to correct. He stole a glance at Sam in the mirror as he barreled headlong up the steep, treacherous grade of road…**

**Sam wasn't breathing…."SAMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Dean roared into the crystalline air before him. He was on the verge of breaking down….."Please God….don't……you can't…" his voice broke in a shuddering sob as the tears streamed a fresh down his cheeks only to freeze into burning daggers of ice on his skin…"…please…don't take him….I…can't…do this alone…" Dean gasped, his chest heaving as he pushed the pedal recklessly to the floor and surged up the last, cresting hill. **

**The momentum caused the car to leap the ground, soaring a foot above it for what felt like hours…everything slowed down for a tenuous moment before gravity reasserted itself and swatted the heavy, dark, mechanized beast back to the frozen surface of the road with a bone-jarring impact. Dean cranked the wheel hard and spun the car into a sideways slide. He slammed his brakes and tripped the emergency brake as he ground out into a skidding halt in front of the steps of the cabin...**

**Dean threw open his door, slamming it hard, not caring about it for the first time in history as he did so. He ran around the hood, slipping and crashing to his knees in his haste. He pushed the pain away…he'd felt worse…so much worse…He locked the sensation away to deal with later. He grabbed the rear door handle, depressing the latch…it wouldn't budge…He slammed his body hard into the side of the car. It jarred it loose enough that he was able to get it open. He grabbed Sam's stiff, frozen pant leg and drug him forward to where he could get an arm looped under his torso and his knees. He lifted him bodily out of the car, angling his hip into the door to close it…**

**He carried Sammy's limp, lifeless body up the stairs, his little brother's head lulled backward, as boneless and loose on his neck as a ragdoll. Dean's already labored breath found new heights of pain as the frigid air buried needle-like fangs into his lungs. His side hitched, as his shivering body burned under the strain of the task he was forcing upon it….****  
**

"**Sammy…please…hang on…man…you can't die on me….Please!!!" he panted out. He gripped the doorknob and turned it hard, then kicked the door back forcefully as he angled himself awkwardly to fit himself and his brother's lanky form through the doorway. He pounded through the tiny kitchen setup to the large hearth in the main living room area, thankful they had left the fire burning. The interior of the cabin was relatively warm, but the fire had burned low. Dean lay Sam on the rag rug by the fire place. He grabbed up pieces of firewood and made quick work to close the door and to get the fire blazing again…**

**As he dropped to his knees next to his brother's body, his own body screamed it's objections to him, but he had bigger things on his mind for the moment…Sammy still wasn't breathing. He winced inwardly, knowing he might have to give his brother CPR, but dammit, he would do whatever he had to do to save him. He wrenched open Sammy's jacket as far down as the frozen zipper would allow. He closed his eyes, concentrating for as moment on remembering what he had learned about CPR. It snapped quickly back into his memory. He sought the correct positioning of his hands, and once he had the right location, he pumped short spikes of pressure onto Sam's chest, slipping into a rhythm quickly. Sammy didn't seem to be responding…**

**He closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath…ok…I can do this….he thought as he opened his eyes and gently repositioned Sam's head and throat to the correct tilt, leaned in and blew the set number of quick puffs of breath into his brother's mouth. He moved down as he repositioned himself for chest the compressions. He was wheezing badly after the 6th round of the cycle. Sam had been gone for 16 minutes by his watch. He couldn't breathe himself now as he panted deeply from exertion on his already decimated system. Crushing sadness and despair descended upon him and he hugged his arms around himself, rocking back and forth. "No Sammy….you can't be gone…you can't…" he whispered to the silence. His tears were free to flow now that he was outside the grasp of the frozen tundra's frigid air. His anger rose abruptly, adding an edge to the terrible despair. He gripped Sam's shoulders, lifting him high off the ground, shaking him violently…"Damn you, Sam!!! How dare you leave me all alone!!! "he screamed out before he was once again racked by sobs. He let Sam's limp form drop harshly to the dusty, bare pine floor, wincing deeply as Sam hit with a resounding thud on the floor hard surface. The jarring impact served to cause a surprising reaction. Sammy's lung's sputtered to life as he drug in a ragged breath. Dean leaned over him, slapping his cheek and shaking him gently. Sam breathed in stunted, intermittent breaths, each coming shakily to his frozen form. Sam begun to shiver violently, his body working to produce heat to bring his body temperature up…"Sammy!!! Hold on Sammy!!!!...." Dean cried out, hope flickering to life inside his chest….**

Shit!!! Dean thought, he had to get Sam warm ASAP, but he knew if you heat a person suffering from hypothermia to fast, you can cause internal damage, possibly cause them to have a heart attack or stroke out. He had to get Sam out of his clothes. They had been soaking wet, but with the temperature and wind chill, they had frozen stiff to Sam's skin as Dean had dragged Sam the short distance to the car. He fought the zipper of Sam's coat, but it wouldn't budge…"Sorry Sammy…" he muttered as he wrenched the zipper apart, breaking it. He hefted Sam's shuddering body up enough to slide it off, his numb fingers next tried to work the buttons, but to no avail…He ripped the shirt apart…Sam would be pissed, it was his favorite shirt, but he'd be dead and thus unable to bitch if Dean didn't get it off him, so he did what he had to do. He tore the t-shirt below harshly over his brother's head. Sam cried out in pain, the material had frozen to his skin and the wrenching pull of it off his skin was like it was a giant band-aid being ripped away. The pain jarred him into consciousness. He gasped harshly, sitting bolt up right from the pain for a moment before sinking back to the ground… "Dddddeeeeaaaaannnnnnn……." the sound shuddered from his indigo-tinged lips…."sssssoooo….. cccccoooollllddddddd…." his body burned as the air ravaged over his raw, hyper-sensitive skin, his nerves misfiring and sparking in worrying places. He curled around himself…he couldn't feel his hands, as the numbness throbbed intermittently up his arms, he felt needle-like stabs in his legs. He tried to open his eyes, but found they were frozen shut…"Dddddeeeaaaannnnnnn……." he struggled to spit out….

"It's ok Sammy….I'm right here…......I'm not going anywhere….Sammy buddy….you had me worried….you…." Dean's voice caught in his throat as he swallowed hard…

"Wwwwhhhhhaaaatttttt…..Ddddeeeaaannnn…?" Sam slurred out, trying to be mindful of keeping his tongue out of the way of his violently chattering teeth….

Dean stopped for a second, his eyes closed and he couldn't talk for a moment. He willed himself to put the pain away for a later day…" You died again Sammy….you were dead for almost 20 minutes…." He said softly as he gripped Sam's belt, quickly undoing the clasp. He wrenched the stalled zipper apart and yanked hard at the frozen denim, finding that the boxers beneath were frozen to the material…."Shit…." he thought….jeans are staying on for the moment. He wrenched off his brother's boots and socks and then stood, his body throbbing with aching pain as it spiked violently through his joints. He pushed that away too….he didn't have time for it right now. He moved swiftly to the bathroom, turning on the hot water tap….it would take several minutes to get warm, so he let it run. He grabbed all the blankets he could find then stumbled back toward the fire place. His knee caved and he tumble forward, landing a couple of feet from Sam…"Son of a bitch!!!!!" he cried out as he tried to stand, but couldn't. He tossed the pile toward Sam, and hobble-crawled to Sam's side…"Dammit that hurt" he fumed silently to himself…He tossed out the blankets one by one over Sam's shuddering form…He peeled off his own stiff jacket and his outer shirt, the slightly frigid air caused his skin to tingle and become covered in goosebumps. A little shiver passed through him. He crawled beneath the covers and bear-hugged his brother tightly, sacrificing his own body heat to bring Sam's up…

The very proximity to Sam's frozen form was enough steal his breath…Sam was so damn cold!!!! Shit!!! This is so not good, he thought as he rubbed Sam's back and arms briskly to try to get circulation going…"Come on Sammy, got to get you warmed up before I freeze to death from second-hand cold…." Sam smiled weakly at Dean's lame joke….

"Ssssssssooooorrrrrryyy…Dddddeeeaaannn…."he slurred out quietly.

Sam's shivering was calming a little, thank God…"It's alright Sammy….I'm gonna take care of you….I have to…you're my pain-in-the-ass little brother….it's in the job description…right next to slapping the buzzkill out of you and smackin' you upside the head when you do something idiotic….bitch…"

Sam's chattering lips formed a sappy, tired grin…. "Jjjjeeerrrkkkk…." he reached a trembling hand up to his face, numbly rubbing his knuckles into his eyes, heating the lashes enough to unfreeze them and open them. They flickered open, burning from the chill they still held...he gazed briefly at his brother and then let them close again. He felt a little warmer, but his body ached deeply, throbbing hard enough to wake the dead…

Sam's breathing started to level out…his shivering slowly dying down to an occasional rumble…his chattering teeth could be heard jarring slightly….the terrible frigid temperature of his skin was warming bit by bit. Dean whipped the covers back, eliciting a displeased groan from his brother…"Come on Sammy…we got get your temp up more…I need to you to get a good grip on your boxers…can you do that?...." Dean said…

"What?..."Sam said hoarsely, the confusion evident in his voice…."Why do I need to hold onto my boxers…." A slight slur still present in his harsh voice…

"Dude, I love you, but not that much…they were frozen to you and your jeans…we need to get the jeans off and get you into the shower to warm you up...so grab onto them and hold tight, got it?" Dean said as he gripped the edge of the pant leg…

"Ok…whatever you say bro…" Sam said wearily…he held as tight as he could to the thin fabric, which wasn't very tight at all in his numb and cold-weakened fingers…Dean was able to strip the jeans down this time. The time beneath the blankets seemed to have thawed them enough to make it possible to strip them off…Sam gasped harshly as the air rushed over his now exposed skin, his face clenched with pain…he bit his lip to hold back a stream of obscenities that would have made a sailor blush…Dean yanked the other pant leg down…Sam's muscles tensed visibly from the burning, madly tingling pain. As soon as Dean got the edge to the knee level, he was able to peel them down a bit easier…he gave one last hard tug and they were off. They were dreadfully heavy from all the water they had been saturated with. He tossed them on the hearth to thaw. He stood again, this time he reached down to grip his brother's shoulder, slipping Sam's lengthy arm over the back over his neck. He heaved Sam's lanky, well-muscled form off the ground and helped him staggered to bathroom. He stood at the edge of the tub, letting Sam move at his own speed to get into the tub. He didn't want him losing balance, so he sat close by on the closed lid of the toilet, ready to catch Sam if he looked like he was going to fall…

Sam braced himself against the wall, the hot water simultaneously wonderful and painful over his screaming body. The heat caused his head to throb fiercely. A massive wave of dizziness racked his body and he clutched his stomach with one arm, fighting back the accompanying wave of nausea. He swallowed, choking back the bile, coughing jarring his weak, screaming muscles even worse. He leaned his fevered face against the tiles, eyes clenched shut, his whole body felt like it was on fire. He began to sway. His eyes became unfocused as they rolled back to white and the whole world tilted and then went dark…

Dean watched his brother's weak body struggle in the heat of the shower. He saw him wince deeply and clutch his stomach, the fingers of his bracing hand scrabbled over the tiles. He leaned forward and rested his face against the tiles. Moments later, he began to visibly sway…Dean was on his feet in an instant…. "Sammy?...You ok bro?..."Dean's concern caused his whole body to tense. Sam's head lolled back, his eyes rolling back into his head…"Sammy!!!!!..." he screamed as he caught Sam's limp, tumbling form just before he hit the edge of the tub. Dean hauled Sam's muscle-packed form out of the tub and on to the ground. As he checked for a pulse, his breath caught in his chest for a moment until he felt a slow but steady pulse beneath his finger tips. His little brother wasn't out of the woods yet. Shock was setting in. Dean wrapped a towel around Sam's head and one around his torso. He vigorously dried Sam's wet hair, then rubbed the other towel briskly over Sam's arms and legs before discarding them. He gripped Sam tightly and lugged him back to the fire place. He set Sam down on the small sofa for a moment as he rolled out the heavy thermal sleeping bag as close to the fire place as he dared, unzipping it completely, then he spread out the blankets over it. He wrapped another dry towel around Sam's wet boxers so it could absorb the majority of the water instead of the blankets doing so. He slid one arm behind Sam's torso and the other behind the hollow of Sam's knees and hefted him up off the sofa. He struggled for a moment, staggering under the weight…."Dammmit Sammy…I'm all for being in shape, but this is ridiculous…."he grumbled as he set Sam down on the sleeping bag, pulling the blankets from the other side over him, enveloping him in a pocket of warmth. He pulled the flap of the sleeping bag over and zipped Sam in, pulling the covers up over Sam until he could tuck them under his chin. Sam was too damn tall to comfortably fit his head under the covers. Dean sighed as he stood and stalked over to their bags, pulling out a beanie cap. He tugged it down over Sam's damp hair. "There, that should help…" he thought…

Dean shook his head as he went back the bags and pulled out the warmest clothes he could find. He stripped down out of his now wet clothes and quickly slipped into the new, warmer ones. He went to the fireplace and added another two logs, causing the fire to blaze up and heat the room…Dean tossed out his sleeping bag, unzipping it almost all the way…he set it on the sofa and clambered in…he didn't zip it, though, he need to be able to get to Sam in a hurry…he set himself guard to watch his brother…he dozed on and off, but every moan or shift from his brother's direction brought him instantly awake, just to be sure that Sam wasn't in trouble…


End file.
